Our Staff

Kerstin Müller stepped in as Director of the Heinrich Böll Foundation’s Israel Office, Tel Aviv in December 2013. At the end of the last legislative term, Kerstin Müller concluded her career of many years as a Member of the German Bundestag, serving as the Spokesperson on Foreign Policy for Alliance 90/The Greens. In the second term of the red-green government coalition from 2002-2005, Kerstin Müller was Deputy Foreign Minister of Germany. The Middle East, and especially Israel, have been the focus of her work over many years. In countless visits to the region, she built a broad network of personal and political contacts.

Elisheva Gilad has been the Environment and Sustainability Program Coordinator and Deputy Director since December, 2007. From 2007-2013, she additionally coordinated the program area of Civil Society and Democracy. Born and raised in the United States, she has lived in Israel for over thirty years. She holds a masters degree in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University (USA) with a focus on Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. She has worked for many years in the field of Jewish-Arab dialogue and shared society. Her professional background includes facilitation and curriculum development, strategic planning, resource and program development and resource development consulting. Her responsibilities involve the development and management of the environment component in addition to monitoring and evaluating projects, coordinating diverse stakeholder fora and cooperations and representing the foundation at events and conferences.

Romy Shapira joined the Heinrich Boell Foundation in March 2008 and has worked as the coordinator of the Gender and Democracy component ever since. Prior to joining HBF, she served as the first coordinator of the International Women’s Commission (IWC) for a Just and Sustainable Palestinian-Israeli Peace, where she later became a board member. She has extensive experience in program development, strategic planning, project coordination and group facilitation. Ms. Shapira is deeply committed to social change initiatives in Israel and has worked and served on boards of organizations such as the Hotline for Migrant Workers, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Museum on the Seam, Turning the Tables and more. Romy holds a Bachelors degree in Economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a Masters degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Tel-Aviv University, and is currently a PhD student at Tel Aviv University’s school of Environmental Studies.

Oz Aruch joined the Tel Aviv Office in April, 2015 as the Program Coordinator for Regional Security & German-Israeli Dialogue. Prior to joining the Heinrich Böll Foundation, he worked at the German Institute for Global and Area studies in Hamburg (GIGA) and as a Parliamentary Assistant to the Chairman of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Group at the German Bundestag. In addition, Oz currently serves as the representative of the German-Israeli Future Forum Foundation in Israel. Oz received an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, where he specialized in German Foreign Policy towards the Middle East and a BA in Philosophy and Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Freie Universitaet Berlin.

Baruch Baruchi joined the Heinrich Boell Foundation team in October 2013 as the Finance Coordinator. His responsibilities include the whole financial and accounting aspects of the foundation in Israel. Prior to joining the HBS, Baruch served as regional finance manager at Netafim (a global leading irrigation company), as a senior consultant in the transaction advisory services of Ernst&Young and as an outsourcing finance consultant for several companies and NGOs. Baruch is a certified public accountant and holds a Bachelors degree in Economics & Accounting from Bar-Ilan University.

Daphna Frucht joined the Heinrich Böll Foundation in May 2016. Born in Israel, raised in Austria and educated in the United States, Daphna is fluent in three languages. Prior to joining the HBF, Daphna worked at the Cultural Affairs and Press Department of the German Embassy, at Yad Vashem and at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Due to her professional experience within various fields, Daphna’s expertise includes project management and coordination, strategic planning, group facilitation, archival research, training and mentoring. Before making Aliyah in 2015, Daphna was deeply committed to Hasbarah initiatives by creating an educational program for the Austrian chapter of the March of the Living and by initiating the Vienna chapter of the international women’s organization, Young WIZO. She has worked in the field of culture, film and music for many years.

Daphna holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology (with three minors in: Women`s Studies, Film Studies and Near Eastern Judaic Studies) from Brandeis University (USA), a Masters degree in Judaic Studies from Vienna University (Austria), and is currently a PhD student.

Yossi Sade joined the finance department of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in July 2016, where he works as a bookkeeper . His responsibilities include the financial and accounting aspects of the foundation's work in Israel. Prior to joining the HBS team, Yossi worked as a bookkeeping manager at Nice Systems (a leading global operational big-data company), as a Bookkeeper in Reshet – channel 2 and other various high-tech companies. Yossi is a certified Bookkeeper and Payroll manager from the open university.

Who we are

Fostering democracy and upholding human rights, taking action to prevent the destruction of the global ecosystem, advancing equality between women and men, securing peace through con­ flict prevention in crisis zones, and defending the freedom of individuals against excessive state and economic power – these are the objectives that drive the ideas and actions of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. We maintain close ties to the German Green Party (Alliance 90/The Greens) and as a think tank for green visions and projects, we are part of an international net­work encompassing well over 100 partner projects in approxi­mately 60 countries.

The Heinrich Böll Foundation works independently and nurtures a spirit of intellectual openness. We maintain a world­ wide network with currently 30 international offices. We co­operate closely with 16 state-level Böll Foundations in each of Germany’s federal states, and we support talented, socio-politi­cally engaged undergraduate and graduate students in Germany and abroad.

We gladly follow Heinrich Böll’s exhortation for citizens to get involved in politics, and we want to inspire others to do the same.